undergrounds | Game Opening: May Ball

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Game Opening: May Ball

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.

It had to be done.

Welcome all to the Redbright Institute's May Ball! This evening is a celebration of the Institute's achievements over the past year. Students aged 16 and above can attend on their own, while younger students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Meanwhile, friends and guests of the Institute are invited as a gesture of friendship and harmony between the various factions.

Rules and etiquette
• This is a black tie event. Formal attire is required.
• No weapons. This is a school, there are children present. Any weapons or objects that could be used as weapons will be confiscated.
• No drugs or alcohol. Obviously. Don't try to sneak any in.
• No violence.

There is security within the school and present at the event. (In fact, if your character is a member of the Redbright Institute, you could have them acting as security if you want.) They will respond to and put a stop to any trouble.

Places to go
The main action takes place in the large Assembly Hall. This is where the Chancellor Sylvia Redbright will give her address. It's also where you can party later on. The disco is family-friendly – not exactly a rave, but the kids will love it.

Drinks and snacks are available in the dining hall. The drinks are non-alcoholic. Vampires, no need to worry about your cravings: blood cocktails are provided! They're given in good faith on the assumption that you won't be snacking on anyone else tonight.

Just off the dining hall, one of the classrooms has been converted into a chill-out area. The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries. A video of young witches taking part in various night-time rituals (they mostly seem to involve chanting and bonfires) plays silently on the screen.

One of the lecture theatres has been opened up to showcase students' work from the past year. On the screen you can watch a slideshow of notable events and achievements. Strangely enough there aren't many people in this room.

Outside, there is a giant chessboard on the lawn. The pieces are made of plastic and can easily be moved around. Why, you ask? Why not, is the answer.

Finally, a large marquee has been set up in the quad. This is the adults-only area, with wine and cocktails served at the bar, nibbles available at a few high tables dotted around and a sophisticated atmosphere. No children under 18 allowed. (Note that the legal drinking age is 18.)

Timeline of events
20:00 – Doors open.
20:57 – Sunset.
21:15 – Sylvia Redbright makes her address in the Assembly Hall.
22:00 – Disco in the Assembly Hall. The DJ has atrocious taste.
01:00 – Disco stops. The event officially ends.

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"Miss Clara!" said Heiji, affecting a mildly scolding tone. "Playing pranks on the kids of today, who would have thought? ...Though I bet the teachers enjoy it."

She also probably resulted in a call or two to a tech-inclined friend or relative, who would puzzle over the phone and then announce that that was nothing wrong with it that they could see...

"If it means the students work and listen than yes. The teachers enjoy it. Long as their phones aren't caught in the crossfire." Here she looks sheepish, looking away in guilt. "Sometimes I'm successful. Sometimes... Misery loves company as they say."

The ghostly woman does try her best to not destroy their phones or machines. She isn't always a menace to electronic appliances. Er. That one poor coffee machine in the teacher's lounge not withstanding. It surprised her with a loud noise! How else should she have reacted to that besides not destroy it from surprise?

"Yeah? Well, that's kind of how it works with powers, sometimes. You just sort of aim for a goal and hope for the best, right?" Heiji might have... set fire to a few things while learning how to control his own abilities, though of course by now he was quite good at it.

"Besides, those fancy schmancy electronics break down all the time, anyway. Sometimes I think they make 'em like that so you gotta buy another one."

~~Go Team Technologypse. Striking fears into all iOS and other such users everywhere.~~

"Do they break on purpose?" She looks worried, recalling how Magra uses those devices so much and so often. Clara huffs, trying to look serious and imposing as possible. "I hope they don't cheat Magra out of it. Otherwise I might do an actual haunting on someone to teach them a lesson! OooOOoooOoo."

Maybe with someone else it would have been somewhat convincing. Almost convincing. With Clara? Who has estbalished herself as being a harmless little old lady spirit? Not very effective more so if she's doing it to someone who knows she's a harmless little old lady spirit.

Heiji laughed. "That'd be great, but the problem is if they could see ya or not! You might have to wear a sheet with eyes cut for holes, just so they know you're there. Of course, that could give 'em quite a fright once they pull the sheet off..."

Not that this was likely to happen anytime in the near future. Certainly not!

As the last strains of the current song ended, Heiji nodded to Clara. "Feel like another? Or we could take a break and hang out. This is my first time at Redbright."

it doesn't take her too long to make a decision but she does give it some thought.

"... I should give your poor a break, good sir. Because I'm feeling generous tonight. Hate to tire you out while the night is so young." She teases him a bit but out of good cheer, knowing he's far more better equipped to last the night than her.

Also she would like to give herself a break too. It was fun, but exhausting, keep an semi-solid grip on a grasp and keep her fingers as fingers, her palm as a palm.

He laughed. "Well, alright. They got a garden around here or something? I always like those." Or most forms of greenery, really; if given the choice, Heiji would be happy to simply to hang out in a grassy field or in a copse of trees.

But alas, city landscaping being what it was, he usually had to visit parks for something like that. He started walking off the dance floor, letting go of her hand so as to not require her to stay solid.

Clara has a ready answer for his question as evident by the clap of her hands together. There is no sound that's made thanks to being a ghost but her excitement is undeniable.

"They do! They happen to have greenhouses but if you're looking for garden-gardens then I know where it is. They're beautiful at this time of the year." Thanks to the students' dedication to look after the plants since that's where some of their ingredients came from after all. "I'll show you one patch of tulips if you're interested. They're just gorgeous thanks to this one girl's care of them. Bianca's her name. An utter sweetheart with quite a greenthumb, I must add!"

"You know, I think I'd like that," said Heiji. Greenhouses, too? Fancy!

"Let's check out these tulips, then! Mind leading the way?" He wondered if this Bianca was one of Magra's friends, or simply someone Clara had run across during her time here.

"And do all the kids pitch in to look after the plants?"

"Of course! In fact I know a shortcut-- Follow me!" She's about to go through a wall when she stops herself when her common sense overrides her ghost sense. "--Er. I think we can take the more normal route."

Right. Not everyone can phase through things like her and Aradia. She needs to remember that. Down the hallway they go then. They're quite close to an exit so it won't take long.

"The ones who take it seriously, of course, are the ones who have a talent for magic or potions," she explains with some amusement, knowing her granddaughter only does it halfheartedly thanks to her dislike of the outdoors. "Bianca is one of them. I believe she's a witch who has an affinity for flowers and her works are just astounding. She actually wants to travel to Japan, you know. Learn more about the magic there."

Heiji laughed as he followed Clara down the hall. "You had me worried for a second!"

He listened with interest, however, as Clara talked about Bianca. "I'm pretty partial to flowers myself. And I'm sure there's lots she could learn in Japan. The magic's a bit different there, and we have different traditions, like onmyoudo. On a more mundane note, she might wanna look into ikebana. It's not for everyone, but I always like lookin' at the arrangements!"

There is an option to climb out a window but that may have left a poor impression on any passerby if they stumbled across him trying to exit the school like that.

"Onmyoudo," she says slowly, trying not to mispronounce it the name. She's got it almost right. " That does sound interesting and Bianca is a good student. I'll keep that in mind and maybe leave a note for her to try it if that's possible. A friend of mine has been helping me with communicate with people better by writing notes here or there for them to find. I should do that for you one of these days."

With how familiar 'ikebana' sounds, Clara falls quiet as she leads him to the gardens where the plants and herbs were thriving and growing. The flowers were a vibrant rainbow range from brilliant reds to royal violet and herbs all hale and healthy. "Oh! Is that the floral arrangement? Where you put flowers in a certain way? I've seen someone do that once for the shop. It was gorgeous."

"Yeah, exactly. Except it's not just about the flowers, it's about form and balance and so on. And different schools and practitioners have their own emphasis. There's one fella who likes to arrange his materials so that their weights are all counterbalanced against each other instead of fastened down. Although she might be interested in the Sogetsu school -- it's more about appreciating everyday beauty."

When they reached the garden, Heiji couldn't help but smile. "I can really see what ya mean. These plants have been well cared-for. It's not too often that you run into kids with that kinda patience."

"Bianca's a saint when it comes to her patience," Clara explains as she goes over to admire some of the work there, the herbs thriving and growing. "It sounds like she would like that practice very much if she knows about it."

She falls a bit quiet, trying to figure out a way to communicate with the girl and not come across as a bit weird and creepy. It's hard when your only proper method of communication means leaving random note lying around. "You know a lot about the schools and practices there! You must have travelled a lot back home before coming here.

"Why, I barely know a thing about ghost practices. Real ones at least. Not the ones I make up as I go along."

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Game Opening: May Ball

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